Bandages
by SonYukiGoku'sSister
Summary: Conrad learns first aid from Gwendal and continues to bandage him throughout the years... Brother fluff...


Bandages

"Ga-ga 'jobu? Ga-ga 'jobu?" little Conrart jabbered, laying a cool hand on Gwendal's hurt knee.

"It's not that bad..." Gwendal grunted, gently swatting the toddler's small hand away.

"Ga-ga mean!" the toddler pouted. The elder prince felt his cheeks redden as he looked at his little brother. "All right," he consented, "you can help. But _only_ if you are very careful."

The little prince pumped his fists in the air with happiness. "Yay!"

"All right," Gwendal instructed, "First you gently roll back the cloth until the wound is fully exposed."

"Hai!" the boy chirped, allowing his big brother to guide his small hands to gently roll up the fabric of his trousers until the knee is fully exposed. Looking at the scratch, little Conrart winced and exclaimed, "Ga-ga has big boo-boo!"

"Yes," Gwendal agreed inspecting the scratch, "Ga-ga has big boo-boo..." Gwendal actually saw it as a scratch but to Conrart that scratch would have been considered a wound since it would have been three times the size of a scratch on his own knee. But then, the difference in their age made Gwendal more than twice Conrart's size. Gwendal shook his head from his musing then and passed a cotton ball to his little brother and carefully held a bottle of disinfectant to the little boy.

"Now you dip the cotton ball into the disinfectant bottle and you dab the scra— I mean wound, to keep germs out..." Gwendal explained.

"Eeyuck!" Conrart yelped, holding his nose with his free hand, "Wen-wen!"

Now Gwendal had to laugh. Conrart never really liked the smell of alcohol. He stopped laughing when he felt a slight sting on his knee, making him look down to find his little brother cautiously swabbing the disinfectant on the scratch with all the concentration he could muster, rolling his tongue from side to side – and holding his nose all the while.

A few seconds later, Gwendal told him to stop before handing him a roll of bandages. "Now you wrap the sore with bandages like this."

Conrart tried his best to be gentle but ended up hurting his brother by pulling the bandage too tightly. "Too tight," Gwendal grunted slightly.

Conrart gasped and loosened the bandages – a little too much. "Suma-suma*,"he murmured.

(A/N: *Sumanai)

"It's all right," Gwendal assured him, ruffling his hair, "Try again." With confidence renewed, Conrart bandaged the knee again – tight, but not so tightly. Gwendal helped him tie it up, "An' big kiss," Conrart finished.

The little boy stood back as Gwendal took a look at the bandage and said, "You did well, ototo."

"Ra-ra did!" the toddler cheered, "Ra-ra did!"

"That's right," Gwendal said, smiling, "You learned your first aid very well."

"Ra-ra 'elp more next time?" the toddler asked.

Gwendal smiled and ruffled his hair. "Of course you can."

_Some odd decades later..._

Conrart did his best to be gentle, but... "Ow!" teenage Gwendal yelled. Conrart sighed, either Gwendal's immune system was shutting down from all the stress as a Lord or Anissina's inventions were getting more dangerous. The boy was opting for the latter. The elder brother was currently lying on the bed, his exposed back displaying a number of cuts and bruises.

"Oooh...!" Conrart commented, flinching, "That's going to leave a mark."

"Ya think?" Gwendal muttered, annoyed.

"Hey," Conrart snapped, hands on his hips, "I put my life on the line just so Anissina wouldn't use you for a lab rat."

"Just feel lucky you don't have maryoku," Gwendal said without thinking, he clamped his mouth shut then. There was a moment of silence before a jab from a cotton bud dipped in alcohol stung his side more than it should have.

"Connie..." he said tentatively.

"Just shut up!"

For once, Gwendal obeyed his younger brother.

_Somewhere around Episode 14..._

"You know," said Conrad as he carefully bandaged Gwendal's ribs, "now that I think about it, I prefer saving you from Anissina any day compared to this."

"_Très drôle_*, ho ho..." Gwendal muttered sarcastically, "Not my fault that Yuri's got a gift of attracting trouble wherever he goes. Besides Houseki crystals don't break bones, they only drain strength. You could have gotten the brat first and we would not be in this mess."

*French for "very funny"

Conrad tightened the bandage slightly then. Gwendal winced, he knew that tiny signal too well. _Conrart was mad..._

"There are people who worry about you, you know..." the younger man said softly. Gwendal said nothing more as Conrad continued to bandage him.

_Around Episode 41..._

"Ow!" Conrad half yelped. He ground his teeth and gripped the bed tightly. Yuri's healing prevented death but most of the wounds could not be healed overnight. A cool hand squeezed his shoulder assuringly. "Easy..." his older brother soothed, "It wasn't easy for Yuri to heal all this."

"I know," Conrad almost whimpered. He had never been so relieved in his life; relieved that he no longer had to hide, to lie and most of all to be brave. It would have been pitiful to cry, but he was so sick and tired of being brave, and now here he was safe in a cell away from Dai Shimarron... Safe with Gwendal...

The older man gently squeezed his shoulder in comfort, as if wishing he could bring his arms around the younger man and allow him to cry. "Mother will want to talk to you..."

"Mhh..." Conrad answered, it was then he saw the tell-tale shaking of Gwendal's arm. Gwendal was trying to conceal something. Conrad seized his brother's arm and pulled forcibly, making Gwendal flinch. "You're hurt..." the younger man accused.

"It's nothing," said Gwendal. Conrad sighed exasperatedly, snatched the roll of bandages from Gwendal's other hand, folded his arms, glared and waited expectantly. At his brother's glare, Gwendal felt like he was looking into a mirror.

"It's just a scratch, Connie," Gwendal grumbled as he took off his overcoat and shirt to reveal a poorly bandaged arm.

Conrad raised a sceptical eyebrow as he eyed the bloody bandage. "One that's obviously causing you pain?"

Gwendal could not help but allow a small smile etch into his features as he allowed Conrad to undo the old bandage to wrapped his arm in the new one. Remembering the first time Conrad bandaged him. A flashback entered his mind.

"_Ga-ga 'jobu? Ga-ga 'jobu?"_

Gwendal smiled

"You smiled?" Conrad asked surprised.

Gwendal raised an eyebrow, amused, "Is that a bad thing?"

"No, not really," Conrad replied, as he tied the bandage around Gwendal's arm, "just seeing you smile always eased my heart a little."

"Hmph!" Gwendal chuckled as he proceeded to bandage Conrad's wounds again. "And you, ototo, never cease to entertain me."

Conrad just smiled and allowed his brother to proceed.


End file.
